Shaping the future, preserving the climate
HANSA Klimasysteme GmbH, based in 26683 Saterland / Strücklingen, has stood for customised, high-quality ventilati-on and air conditioning units for every conceivable application in industry and buildings since 1961.
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Customised system solutions for ventilation and air conditioning units in all areas of application are what HANSA Klimageräte GmbH is countering. The company is focussing on innovation and development in order to reduce energy consumption and operating costs as much as possible. The WebPanels from Wachendorff Prozesstechnik GmbH & Co. KG play an important role in the electrical engineering used, as their versatility and rapid implementation make the WebPanels an essential part of the digital transformation in systems, machines and production environments.
HANSA Klimasysteme GmbH (HANSA), based in 26683 Saterland/Strücklingen, Germany, follows the clear vision that clean air should be a natural standard for everyone and is passionately committed to realising this vision through innovative and highly efficient air conditioning and ventilation systems.
Web Panel
HANSA is characterised by individual system solutions for ventilation and air conditioning units in all areas of application. Since its foundation, the company has consistently focussed on innovation and development in order to drive forward energy and operating cost reductions in the best possible way.
aeration. For this purpose, the air is treated and supplied to an object. The treatment can be heating, cooling, humidifying or dehumidifying.
Optimally fulfil customer wishes
Christian Seltz, Head of the Electrical Department at HANSA, explains: ‘The aim of every system is to optimally fulfil the user‘s climate requirements and to help protect the environment.
Thanks to flexible manufacturing processes and modern components, HANSA offers systems that can be customised to the customer‘s individual operating conditions and consume as little energy as possible. Based on our many years of experience, we have developed a diverse portfolio of air conditioning units whose longevity benefits users. However, our devices are not mass-produced, but are optimised and tailored to the respective application and its specific requirements. We can therefore speak of batch size 1.’
A firm focus: Investment and energy costs
‘We are constantly working on reducing the energy requirements of the overall system and the individual modules without compromising the performance of the system – this reduces investment and energy costs for our customers in equal measure,’ continues Christian Seltz.
HANSA stands on three pillars in order to fulfil its own requirements and customer wishes: HANSA itself produces customised, high-quality air conditioning and ventilation units for every conceivable application. These include units for cooling rooms with high thermal loads, units for dissipating process heat and dehumidification units for indoor swimming pools, for example.
With its IVENCON plant engineering division, HANSA realises complex technical building equipment systems for industrial and energy plants. With the etaTECH service division, HANSA ensures that the devices and systems run optimally in the field. etaTECH comprises strategies and technologies with which HANSA can realise improvements in the efficiency (Greek: η, eta) and thus the efficiency of ventilation and airconditioning devices and systems. `etaTech also includes our service, which rounds off the portfolio with maintenance and troubleshooting for optimal system operation after commissioning and acceptance of the devices,’ continues Seltz.
Economic efficiency as the common denominator
The operating conditions for air conditioning and ventilation units in the industrial sector are as varied as industrial production itself. Manufacturing processes often require exact compliance with defined air conditions. In addition, very strict air hygiene criteria must be met when handling food and pharmaceutical processes.
‘However, these diverse projects always have one criterion in common: more than anywhere else, decision-makers in the industry are focussing on the cost-effectiveness of every investment. Only those who can withstand the critical analysis of the investment and operating costs of an air conditioning system have a chance in this segment,’ says Christian Seltz.
HANSA‘s system visualisation is implemented in HTML5 and can therefore be displayed in high quality on all web-enabled devices. HANSA has opted for WebPanel from Wachendorff Prozesstechnik
Electrical engineering and design as a advantage
In addition to a parameterisable control system from OJ-Electronics, which optimally covers many standard applications, Hansa relies on the programmable control systems (DDC – Direct Digital Control) from Saia Burgess, as required and agreed with the customer or their engineering office. The DDC programmes ensure that technical building systems are operated economically and in accordance with usage requirements, without any loss of comfort for the user. Possible savings can be made, for example, by switching off consumers completely outside the times of use and switching them back on at the optimum time before use begins. Detailed clarification takes place during the quotation phase. If this is not possible, appropriate leeway is provided so that parameters and algorithms can also be adapted after commissioning. By networking, DDC substations in larger buildings can be linked and operated in a so-called building management system (BMS). HANSA air conditioning units can be integrated into the respective building management system via all common interfaces. Typically, the required interface is based on BACnet, Modbus or Saia S-BUS.
‘We develop the control strategies for our systems taking into account the appliance type, the specific application, the components installed and the on-site conditions. All the information relevant to economical, ecological and safe control comes together in our factory,’ notes Christian Seltz.
HANSA specialist Christian Seltz explains further: ‘With a HANSA DDC, the operator has a single point of contact for all service enquiries. With our etaConnect product, we link the controls of our air conditioning units to the Internet via an LTE router, thereby enabling remote access to our devices for the purposes of operation, monitoring, fault management, changing parameters and more. The devices can be connected to a higher-level building management system via a defined interface and thus controlled from here.’
Fast response times and brilliant reproduction, even under difficult ambient conditions, characterise the WebPanels from Wachendorff Prozesstechnik and inspire Christian Seltz, Head of Electrical Project Planning, Control and Regulation Technology at HANSA.
The web server management systems from HANSA offer considerable advantages. These include: No additional software required; operation of the systems from any PC/laptop connected to the Internet (the web browser is the access software); interactive control scheme for simple operation; high security thanks to multiple password protection; optimum and cost-effective remote management set-up (remote service and remote analysis), unlimited Modbus and BACnet capability.
The SpiderControl™ AutomationBrowser from iniNet Solutions is an HTML5 web browser for industrial panels and contains many other features in addition to the standard functions. Among other things, it also offers PLC station lists for navigating to various web servers and starting in kiosk mode. An on-screen keyboard can be activated by the user at any time. The AutomationBrowser not only supports http and https URLs, but also VNC (remote desktop) and RTSP (video streaming). ‘The AutomationBrowser is already installed on the WPC WebPanels from Wachendorff when they are delivered to us. It is a very important software component in the overall concept,’ says Christian Seltz.
‘The WebPanels from Wachendorff not only impressed us with their inner values. With their robust die-cast aluminium housing and the very thin front design of just 3 mm as well as a brushed aluminium frame, they are a visually very attractive solution. Of course, the aesthetics of the human-machine interface also play an important role in the overall design of the system,’ says Seltz.
With their robust die-cast aluminium housing and very thin front design of just 3 mm and a brushed aluminium frame, the WebPanels from Wachendorff are a visually very attractive solution. The aesthetics of the human-machine interface also play an important role in the overall design of the system.
HANSA consistently relies on WebPanels and they are used in the following areas and with the following objectives:
• Operation and control
User friendliness: WebPanels offer intuitive touchscreen interfaces that allow operators to easily control HANSA systems. Access to control systems: They act as an interface to the control systems (DDC, PLC) and other control components. ‘However, this option is greyed out in the menu and can only be accessed by specially trained personnel,’ notes Seltz.
• Monitoring and visualisation
Real-time data: WebPanels display system statuses, process parameters and errors in real time, which minimises response times in the event of faults. Data visualisation: They offer diagrams, trends and dashboards for better analysis of the system data.
• Remote access and remote monitoring
HANSA systems and installations generally run for significantly longer than 20 years. To ensure the maximum performance and longevity of the systems, HANSA offers a comprehensive range of services: Maintenance, inspection, fault service, online monitoring, control optimisation and targeted retrofitting. ‘For older existing systems, we replace the 7-segment display that was previously installed as standard and retrofit a Wachendorff WPC WebPanel to enable remote access in the future,’ explains Christian Seltz. Web-based operation: As the WebPanels at HANSA access the respective web servers of the systems available in the field via a special web browser, technicians can act very easily regardless of location and do not have to travel to the site of the incident. Remote fault diagnosis: Maintenance personnel can diagnose and often rectify problems without being on site.
IIoT compatibility: WebPanels are connected to IIoT systems at HANSA in order to integrate data into cloud or MES systems.
Process and system optimisation: Processes are monitored and optimised through data integration. By cross-comparing different systems and their data, important insights can be gained for the further development of ventilation and air conditioning technology. ‘We are already using artificial intelligence to analyse and draw conclusions in this area,’ reveals Seltz. etaSmart, HANSA‘s name for a higherlevel AI control system, is already being used for swimming pools and is constantly being developed further.’
• Security
Access control: HANSA secures access to critical system functions with user login and authorisation levels. Alarm management: WebPanels display alarms and warning messages and can send them automatically to ensure the functionality of the systems and the safety of users.
• Scalability and flexibility
WebPanels can be used in a wide variety of system configurations. This is very important for HANSA due to the batch size 1 described above. HANSA uses WebPanels from Wachendorff in sizes (screen diagonals) of 10.1 inches, 15.6 inches and 21.5 inches – and does not have to adapt the visualisation once it has been configured.
Working in partnership at eye level
‘The cooperation between Wachendorff and HANSA Klimatechnik has proven to be extremely positive and based on partnership in past projects. In particular, the close, trusting co-operation with the Wachendorff sales team has contributed significantly to the success of the joint projects. By always acting in a solution-and customer-orientated manner, they ensured that all project steps ran smoothly and efficiently,’ Christian Seltz is pleased to report.
Original devices for testing
‘From the initial contact to the final implementation, the collaboration was characterised by a high level of expertise and commitment on the part of Wachendorff. The Technical Advice and Service department supported us with extensive technical expertise and helped us to select the optimum devices for the respective requirements. The uncomplicated and rapid provision of sample devices was a decisive factor in this process, enabling the solutions to be trialled and evaluated at an early stage. The appliances were subjected to extensive tests and the WPC series from Wachendorff emerged as the price-performance winner,’ emphasises Christian Seltz.
Customised solutions
Christian Seltz continues: ‘Wachendorff‘s service in making specific customisations for us deserves special mention. This mainly involved requirements that would enable us to commission the WebPanel plug & play: For example, software pre-installation and a customised boot screen (here: logo) were implemented with great open-mindedness. This flexibility reflects Wachendorff‘s customer-orientated way of working.’
Innovation on the assembly line
Christian Seltz concludes: ‘Our latest developments and solutions, such as etaConnect for IIoT and remote maintenance, etaWatch for energy monitoring and etaSmart as a highly developed AI-based control system, are setting new standards in the field of air conditioning systems. We are constantly striving for technological progress in order to offer our customers optimum performance, efficiency and user friendliness. It‘s important to have access to well-established processes and reliable partners – I really appreciate the Wachendorff Prozesstechnik team and look forward to the next steps together.’
Powerful WebPanel WPC
… with pre-installed AutomationBrowser:
• Projected capacitive touch
• TFT LCD, 1,280 pixels x 800 pixels
• Diagonals from 7 inch to 23.8 inch
• IP65, compact fanless housing
• Processor: RK3288 quad-core Cortex-A17 up to 1.8 GHz
• Fast image display with powerful processor
• Robust aluminium housing, low installation depth
• High protection class IP65, flush-mounted design
• Always connected: Integrated WiFi and Bluetooth
More information: https://www.wachendorff-electronics.com/
